The spinning turbine blades of wind farms pose a risk to birds or bats that fly through the volume swept by the turbine blades. Some government entities may require wind farms to mitigate that risk, particularly for certain bird or bat species protected by law or government regulations. For example, these government entities may require that mitigation of the risk to Golden Eagles or Bald Eagles from a proposed wind farm be demonstrated before installation of the wind farm is permitted. Other governments may not require a permit, but may still issue penalties or fines for those wind farms that harm government identified birds or other animals.
Attempts to mitigate the risk posed by wind farms to protected bird or bat species typically involve curtailing (e.g., slowing or shutting down) operation of wind turbines when it is determined that protected birds or bats may be present. Existing mitigation methods typically cannot specifically identify birds or bats that they detect, and may therefore curtail operation of wind turbines more often than is necessary to mitigate risk to protected bird and bat species. This results in loss of energy and revenue. Further, existing mitigation methods typically have a high capital cost.